


Rightfully Mine

by theGirlwithtoomanyOTPs



Series: Konoha High Rumble [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-08 13:59:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3211742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theGirlwithtoomanyOTPs/pseuds/theGirlwithtoomanyOTPs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CREATORS and original characters here can pretty much suck it</p><p>AU setting: High School</p><p>Hinata liked Naruto. But just how much really? And isn't she engaged to Sasuke? What'll <b><i>HE</i></b> think about that!</p><p>Part One of a connected series. We'll move on to different pairings later on. Pairings are, yes, my OTPs but heh... ends in canon so I don't offend anyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Start

Though Tsunade-sama would rather not do any ceremonies for the start of the year, her aide, Shizune had succeeded in making sure that there was a proper start of the year ceremony.

And though it was obvious to the upperclassmen that the Godaime Hokage and principal of Konahagakure High was once again out of sorts due to enibriation so early in the morning, said upperclassmen were way beyond used to it and did not dampen the bright moods of everyone.

Immediately after the short and uneventful ceremony, (Tsunade-sama stumbling her way to and off the stage was only new to the freshmen) Hinata followed her friends TenTen and Lee to class 3-B through the crowded hallways.

Tenten seemed visibly upset about being separated from her long time best friend and long time not-so-secret crush, Hinata's cousin, Neji. Rock Lee was trying to lift her spirits up.

"Tenten, my youthful blossoming flower friend!" He said with his usual enthusiasm that made people, especially some freshmen, stop in their tracks and look. Hinata was thankful that Lee did not stop walking this time. "Do not worry so and waste the fleeting time of your youth in such worries! Neji has informed me that Class 3-A has the same break schedules and have Gym AND club activities together!"

Tenten looked at Hinata for confirmation and Hinata mumbled, "I... d-didn't ask Sasuke-kun..."

Hinata's stomach clenched and she dropped her milky pale eyes to her feet. Her friend thankfully left her to her own thoughts as she spoke to Lee.

_Sasuke-kun..._

Hinata's boyfriend was _the_ Uchiha Sasuke from _the_ politically well-connected and wealthy Uchiha clan.

It had been a widely known fact among the citizens of Konoha that before either of them had been born, Sasuke and Hinata were engaged to be married.

The Uchihas and Hyuugas had been friends for centuries so this had been a grand idea to all the members of the clans.

Fortunately, Sasuke and Hinata had been alright with each other ever since they met at age three. Or rather, Hinata meekly followed wherever the quiet boy she was told she was going to marry went and did as he said.

Sasuke wasn't the warmest boyfriend in the world. But he was kind in his own way and he cared for her on his own way.

He never asked her anything she couldn't do or spoke ill to or of her. He was there by her side even if she wouldn't say she needed him.

And not once have they spoken together about their engagement.

Until yesterday evening, actually.

The thought of it made Hinata's chest constrict.

_The crickets sang sweetly through the chilly night._

_The moon was a bright full sphere in the sky against a black velvet of sky where diamonds glittered with very little space from each other._

_Hinata smiled to herself as she poured warm jasmine tea on two delicate china._

_Sasuke watched her quietly, watching her soft smile._

_And then..._

_"Hinata," He called to her softly._

_He said nothing until she looked up and met his eyes._

_"Do you still want to go through this wedding with me?"_

_She froze immediately._

_What did he just say?_

_She had no answer for that as she would normally have done._

_She'd gotten so used to his thoughts that none of them ever suprised her and she knew what answer he'd always needed or wanted. But not to this._

_Her throat went dry and her brows furrowed until he touched her hand gently with his and she realized the tea she'd been pouring for him was about to spill._

_It was normal for Sasuke or Hinata to spend after school or evenings at each others' houses. They were always welcome to stay for the night and they had their own rooms and spare clothes in each others' homes._

_Tonight it was Sasuke who came over; they decided he was going to walk her to school tomorrow._

_They had finished dinner and were sitting outside Hinata's and his room which stood side by side._

_They knelt and sat on soft cushions on the wooden floor with a small tea table between them as they watched the fireflies lazily drift in the cool garden air, their lights reflecting on the water, making the koi swim up from their little man-made cove._

_She looked at him with fearful eyes. Her hands trembled gently._

_Was he questioning their destiny? Their entire future? **Their whole lives.**_

_Hinata felt scared. More scared than she had ever been in her short lived life._

_She'd been raised to become his wife; to be the mother of more Uchihas. To be the mother of the future Uchiha clan and to be the wife of the soon-to-be leader. Sasuke was the second son and youngest son of Fugaku. He was now the only heir as Itachi Uchiha died of a strange illness before he'd gotten to marry whoever had been chosen for him._

_It was cowardly to admit so, but she knew no other way in life. The path they set her upon was the path she'd embraced. The only path she was **good** at._

_She was so good at it she was convinced... no, she knew it in her that she'd learned to love him. He was going to be her husband. She was looking forward to it. Sasuke hadn't been that hard to fall in love with. He was a good man. A very good husband-to-be._

_She looked into his dark, emotionless eyes and stuttered as she always did._

_"S-Sasuke-kun?"_

_After a few moments he looked away and drank his tea. A small smile played on his lips._

_Hinata was the only person he'd ever graced his smiles, if only ever rare. She'd been so close to him that she knew every smile she'd ever seen to form on his soft lips._

_But this smile was not one she liked._

_He drank his tea and murmured, "we should get to bed, love."_

_He'd always called her his 'love' on momentsas soon as he brought her a bouquet of lilacs. Ino had told her they meant "first love". It had marked the beginning of their relationship as being more than just childhood sweethearts but as real lovers. Hinata had almost fainted._

_But now..._

_"Sasuke-kun, w-what are you...?"_

_He leaned over and kissed her lips softly for the thousandth time. This time Hinata felt no warmth from her or his kiss._

The last words he'd told her was a good night and up until then he hadn't spoken another word.

Hinata looked up and was suprised they were already at class 3-B.

She was more suprised that Lee hovered in the doorway instead of going in.

She craned her neck and blushed furiously.

The rest of the people in class were also watching the scene.

The blonde boy sat comfortably with both feet up on his desk.

Again he was showing his contempt for the school rules by wearing his trademark black long overcoat and a plain black _hachimaki_ over his forehead. Instead of the boy's uniform he wore a white shirt and black slacks and his worn sneakers.

Standing over his desk was Haruno Sakura, looking proper in her uniform.

She was crossing her arms as she scowled, "---and you weren't even in the ceremony again!"

"So what?" Naruto grinned carelessly. "Granny won't mind! She doesn't care if I'm here! You should be glad I was even on time for school! Ne, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura reached over and pinched his cheek real hard. "Don't you call Tsunade-sama that!"

"But isn't she very old?!"

Naruto yelled as Sakura pinched and pulled on his ear now.

"He just doesn't change, doesn't he?" Tenten said in an undertone. "How come he's in our class?"

"I thought he didn't pass sophomore year?" Lee pondered out loud as he watched Haruno Sakura hurt the blonde loudmouth.

"G-guys, h-he's looking o-our w-way..." Hinata blushed deep red when Uzumaki Naruto looked her in the eye.

Hinata was suprised when Naruto smirked widely and waved even as Sakura punished him for insulting the Godaime.

"Yo! Hinata-chan! Bushy-brows! Tenten!"

The words reached her ears through the long end of a dark tunnel and Hinata's knees gave out underneath her but before Lee or Tenten could react, a pair of strong, steady hands caught her.

"Hinata-chan!" Lee called out in worry. "Are you okay?"

"Sasuke-kun!" They heard Sakura squeak out.

Tenten breathed in slight awe. "How'd you get there so fast?"

Sasuke didn't reply as he held up Hinata.

Hinata thankfully looked up to Sasuke and met hard onyx eyes and that renews a wave of red through her cheeks.

"T-thank you, Sauke-kun," she whispered as he set her to her feet.

But he was no longer looking at her. Instead, he was glaring at Naruto and Naruto did likewise.

"It's the teme! Eh!" Naruto scowled, pointing at Sauke with a finger.

Sasuke disregarded him and faced Hinata's friends. "What's the dobe doing in 3-B?"

"Hey! You, teme!" Naruto got up angrily. "I hear you just fine!"

The bell rang and Sasuke ignored him and held Hinata's hand as he turned to her. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Hinata nodded and he went, an angry Naruto shouting after him and Sakura punching his gut to shut him up.

She ran after Sasuke to class 3-A.

Hinata looked about for a seat and expected a seat beside Kiba or Tenten or Shino as she always had done since their Academy days but the two boys were sitting together in the back this year and TenTen was with Lee in the middle already.

The only empty seat was beside the window behind Naruto.

He smiled at her as she made her way to the seat with shaking limbs.

When she was seated, Naruto faced her and smiled widely.

Hinata wished she could melt in her seat.

She'd always admired Naruto's confidence and funny remarks. She believed he was a strong and admirable boy despite being misunderstood and lonely. He said he'd wanted to show everybody how successful he could be one day.

Everyone knew how Naruto was an orphan from the farside of town. But no one was sure how his parents had died.

The Sandaime Hokage himself of Konohagakure and it's High School became his sponsor so Naruto wouldn't have to grow up in the orphanage like TenTen had.

When the Sandaime died, he left presumably left Naruto the small apartment he lived at now until he was to become eighteen and inherit his parents' fortune, however little it may have been.

To grow up like that... Hinata couldn't even imagine. She had no longer had a mother but she had her _otuou-san_ (despite being quite the domineering patriarch) and her beloved little sister. Naruto had nobody.

She knew she loved Sasuke, she had no doubts! She was his future wife! But she'd always liked Naruto... Admired him since the day he'd protected her from bullies when they were very young. One of the very few timed in the Academy that Sasuke wasn't around to protect her from the bullies who constantly cut her hair so she had to keep it short until she entered high school.

"Are you alright, Hinata?"

"W-what?" She realized Naruto had asked her a question and she'd been an idiot. She prayed to Kami he didn't notice.

"I--I..."

Kami! Wait! What was the question?!

"No worries," he said with another careless smile that made Hinata's lungs ache. He was sooo gorgeous... "I understand if you can't say it was boring hanging out with that Uchiha brat all summer! I did part time jobs helping the elderly across town!"

Another thing she liked about him was the fact that he was excessively good to everyone (except Sasuke, maybe) and loved to help whomever whatever his rebellious looks may tell you.

"Say, you wanna have some ice cream later after school? I still have some cash!" He asked. "Kiba and some of the others are coming, too! Your ice cream's on me! You like those vanilla mango chutney ones, right?!"

_That does it._

The air rushed out of her lungs and the whole world spun to darkness and Hinata was no more.

_Hinata knew she must have died and gone to heaven._

**_"H-Hinata?!"_ **


	2. Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She made him think of another path.

Sasuke's fingers twitched against the door when Sakura brushed past him when he let her go inside first.

He was taller than her by a few inches so his nose was confronted by the smell of her hair.

He'd pegged her as one of those strawberry shampoo users because; well... she liked pink a lot didn't she? Not that he gave any thought of her hair or her favorite color or her in general, really.

But he didn't expect that it would be something like lemongrass with small hints of what could have been lilac or lavender and he certainly didn't expect to actually like it and wanting another whiff.

She thanked him quietly with a small blush and went to her seat behind Hyuuga Neji in the middle row.

She left behind her a scent of faint earth as she went past.

He frowned by a degree to himself and made his way to his chair at the back of class. What did he care if she smelled good?

* * *

During first break, Sasuke waited for Hinata by her locker as he always did. He leaned casually on her locker and looked around for any signs of his fiancée. He ignored the girls around that tried to make eye contact or any kind of contact with him. They were bothersome and he had no time for idle chat.

He looked at his watch and frowned yet again. She was already five minutes late. She doesn't _do_ late, courtesy of an intensive training with Hiashi about the strong importance of punctuality.

He barely noticed Sakura when she came up to him dragged by her noisy blonde best friend.

When he finally did, he only gave her a look.

Sakura looked like she wanted to speak with him but couldn't. Sasuke wasn't bothered by it. She always squeaked around him like a little mouse.

Yamanaka Ino, that overly-brazen girl, however, wasn't to be intimidated by him anytime of the day.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" She winked at him and dragged Sakura up to him. "How are you doing? How was your summer? You weren't at the beach party and here I was hoping you would be there."

Sasuke knew the polite and gentlemanly thing to do was to reply even the curtest of responses but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Something about how the blonde girl always ticked him off. Maybe it was that she never respected his personal space? Did she even know what it entailed? Did she know such things existed and were of great importance to him? That hiding outside his family compound waiting for him to come out was so annoying he had to resort to doubling back and climbing over a wall every time?

He looked away from both of them, willing them to disappear into the crowds.

But of course that wasn’t happening. From his periphery, Ino looked irked that he wasn't responding but she smiled grotesquely sweet after a moment. She always did have a short fuse.

The Yamanaka clan was certainly a persistent bunch, being skilled in the mind. He knew they were mostly psychologists, therapists, counselors and such. Sasuke knew that this Ino girl was probably going to try some psychology tricks that her family had always been famous for.

Sakura fidgeted but interrupted Ino before the girl could say another word, "Sasuke-kun, if you're waiting for Hinata, she's at the infirmary. She's fainted again."

Ino scowled at her best friend. "I was going to tell you, Sasuke-kun!" Ino huffed. "I was getting to that part!"

Sasuke was already swiftly away before Ino could finish her sentence. He was frowning. Hinata has always been faint hearted for one reason and one reason alone.

That _usuratonkachi_ Uzumaki Naruto.

He could feel a vein in his temple wanting to pop.

* * *

Of course it hadn't escaped Sasuke that Hinata, his fiancée, was very much attracted to the loudmouthed boy _(what is it with blondes and their running mouths?),_ he was an Uchiha and a smart one at that. Whatever the reason could be was way beyond him.

Of course that just made him evermore annoyed at the boy.

But Sasuke was more annoyed with himself at that. What was he compared to Uchiha Sasuke? Why would anyone even start to compare?

That sounded so vain but this was Sasuke's girlfriend this _boy_ was on the verge of stealing away without being aware of it.

But even that Sasuke couldn't admit to himself.

It was definitely not jealousy, he told himself. What would he be jealous of with that yellow oaf? Hinata was devoted to him. He knew she was comitted to their destiny; to become his wife and the mother of the future main family of his clan.

But maybe it was because she'd never react that way with Sasuke?

She'd always been shy to him and it was amusing how he could make her blush with the barest touch of skin or with the most fleeting of words.

But the only times he'd rendered her knees buckling or her fainting was the few times they'd made out.

(He liked kissing her and she was responsive, accepting and willing. Always _willing_.)

How come with Naruto he just smiles and she's down on the ground like some lifeless puppet? He wasn't some kind of god!

Sasuke scowled inwardly. Stupidity does not run in the Uchiha blood and this train of thought is more than stupid. It's pathetic.

He reached the infirmary and opened the door quietly. The nurse recognized him with a small blush and immediately pointed to one of the five curtained off wards.

He slid the door closed and went to check on Hinata.

"She was only a little feverish and faint," the nurse said absently. "No worries necessary."

“Hn.” He’d be the judge of that.

Hinata was alright. She was still asleep and had covers over her with a damp towel on her forehead.

He also found Naruto sitting on Hinata's bedside. The boy was reading some kind of comic book.

"What are you doing here, loser?" He asked coolly.

Naruto made a face and stowed his comic away, his nose twitching like there was a fly about to land on it. "Watching over Hinata, stupid. What do you think I'm doing?"

"It was rhetorical. Get out."

"Why should I get out? I was here first! I brought her here!"

_And you probably caused why._

"I'm her boyfriend and I'm telling you to get out before I drag you out kicking and screaming."

"Heh," Naruto grinned slyly and stood up, making a show of cracking his knuckles. "Like you can take me in a fight, _teme_."

Sasuke wanted to hit him right in the face but thought better of it. It would probably make a huge racket and his father would give him hell for it later for 'shaming' the family name. But it would feel so damn **_good_** , though. He's always wanted to kick his teeth in.

Hinata stirred in her sleep and he gave the loser a pass.

"I'll take you on any day even if I don’t fight battles that I’ve already won but right now I've no time for your nonsense because **_my_** Hinata needs me."

He pushed Naruto and closed off the curtains in his face like he would slam a door and took his rightful seat beside Hinata.

He could practically hear Naruto scowling over the other side of that curtain and he wished Hinata would wake up and see how foolish the _baka_ was. Instead, he heard the door of the clinic open and close along with strings of curses muttered.

Hinata, why would you like that _usuratonkachi_? He was genuinely curious.

He clasped her hand gently between his as she woke up.

She blinked twice when she saw him.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Her brows met together and he poked her forehead softly the way his brother used to in an attempt to smooth out her worried face. "W-where are we?"

"At the infirmary."

She didn't ask why, bless her little heart. Hinata knew she'd fainted again.

"They repainted," she whispered, embarrassed because where else would she be? It was also a testament that she was always in that room and that entertained him.

He smiled softly and poked her cheek this time.

"They moved, actually," he informed her.

She took the towel off her head and sat up, placing it beside her, grasping Sasuke's hand tighter, pulling him to her and he came closer, laying his head on her lap, looking at the navy blue skirt and ran his hand over the pleats.

Hinata ran a free hand over his hair. His mother and she were the only ones he allowed to do it.

He was thankful the nurse wasn't checking on them. It was a private moment. The moments were rare and few in between but they were moments Sasuke secretly craved. Hinata was always so warm and gentle with him. Who didn’t want to be cared for like this?

"Do you feel better?" He asked her quietly. "I can take you home. It’s no trouble."

He didn’t really want to go to school today anyhow.

"I'm fine," she told him. She never liked bothering him or anybody. She was truly kind like that. Even if it was to her own inconvenience. Her father hated that kind side of hers openly. Said a clan head should have no weakness like that. "I'm sorry I worried you. Thank you for bringing me here."

Sasuke's face stayed clear as he corrected her. "Naruto brought you."

The hand in his hair stiffened for a moment then continued to caress his hair.

"We can thank him later, then."

_I'm not thanking that idiot. Not in a million years._

"You sure I don't need to bring you home?"

"It's the first day, Sasuke-kun," she sighed. "It was just another dizzy spell... You know how I get..."

 _Around him_ , he finished for her in his head. No need to rub it in both their faces.

What is it with him today? He'd never thought things like this. Jealousy over the loser? Stupidity. No, having emotions were stupidity. The entire human race can function better without them. His father was right. He always was.

Sasuke felt fingers on his jaws lift his head up and he was looking directly to Hinata's pale lavender eyes.

She looked... sad.

"Sasuke-kun," she frowned. "Why are you so down?"

He wasn't down so much as annoyed with himself.

He didn't answer.

Why did he even ask her that stupid question last night?

One look at her and Sasuke knows she was going to go through with anything with him.

This was that girl’s fault.

If it wasn't for her, everything would have been alright.

He wouldn't have questioned anything.

* * *

_Unlike most people his age, Sasuke felt comfortable with wearing yukatas, haoris and hakamas and letting people see his smooth and bare chest._

_He looked good and why would he hide that?_

_He wore one of his many black and blue pairs for the day._

_He didn't mind the summer sun that was beating everybody down as he strolled down the streets of his family's provincial home._

_He was going to pay his respects to the ancestors and go pray at the shrine. His father normally went with him but today, Fugaku was feeling unwell due to the heat and let him set off on his own._

_Sasuke didn't mind. All his father did was tell him what he did wrong instead of seeing things that he did right._

  _Even in death, Sasuke was left under Itachi's great shadow._

_There was a time he didn't mind. Itachi had been legendary. Full of prospects anyone even outside the clan could see. His brother had been his best man, his father figure, his ally. He didn't need his father._

_But the Itachi died and he had to take up the mantle. He'd been trained to follow and serve Itachi, not to lead, so Fugaku did nothing but complain how unfit Sasuke will always be._

_Sasuke didn't want to be the clan head. That had been Itachi's job from the start. Sasuke could do it but he didn't want to. And Itachi was most capable. He loved the clan. He wanted the best for the clan. Sasuke wanted to find his own way._

_But Itachi was gone and Sasuke had duties to his clan._

_He was at least Hinata was going to be there with him. That would make the duties less unappealing._

_She was from a clan, too. The supposed heiress. So she knew what he was going through. And he was thankful she was marrying him even if it meant that she would still need to carry the same responsibilities, if not more._

_Hinata was his fresh air, his best friend, his stronghold. He was thankful to Kami for her, even if he didn't show it much. He probably loves her too._

_He knew he it would be okay. Hinata was going to be a good wife, a good mistres to the clan and a good mother. She'd bear him strong children. He would like them to have her genteel personality. Nothing like him and his anger._

_The future was set. He just had to live through the present until then. Life was going to get easier._

* * *

_He wondered what to get Hinata for when they got back in two days. Hinata used to come with them every summer for a week but this year she had some Hyuuga duties to attend to. He wasn't the only heir to a huge clan, after all._

_It had been agreed that once Hinata marries Sasuke that she would step aside and set the place for clan headship to her younger sister, Hanabi. She would then remain as an elder in the Hyuuga clan. So now she was helping prepare Hanabi._

_He was deciding on giving her one of those doves a peddler was selling when he spotted a pink haired girl clad in out of place city clothing coming out of a nearby shop._

_"Mom, I won't be out too long!" The girl was saying. "It's just prayers! How long can those take? I'll be **fine**!"_

_Haruno Sakura._

_Who else had he known had that unnatural hair color like hers?_

_After years of seeing that pink following him from the corner of his eyes, he knew he would be able to find her anywhere._

_Her hair was put up in a messy bun, hair framing her face and showing off a beautiful long neck. She was dressed in a red tank top with a half a white circle on her side, accentuating a slim waist, whitewashed jeans and black boots._

_She stepped out to the street with a defeated half smile and half sigh and then saw him in the middle of the road looking at her._

_She blinked a few times as if she was wondering if he was real then she smiled awkwardly, her cheeks turning rosy._

_"K-konnichiwa, Sasuke-kun..."_

* * *

_They lit their incense and rang the bell thrice and clasped their hands together and prayed quietly._

_Sasuke prayed for the usual things; good health, safe family, a bountiful year, guidance and luck._

_To be honest, if someone asked him if he believed in the gods, he would have given them a shrug or walked away._

_Sasuke did it for the tradition and to please his father, if only to get him off his back. Traditions were simple and safe and they kept everybody on their toes. Everyone was especially equal and naked in religion. And he liked the uniformity, the pattern, the river never changing its course. Everything was quite predictable. Everything else in the world wasn’t. And Sasuke had no time for puzzles that really did him no good in figuring out._

_Maybe he believed that something out there was the omnipotent but he didn't believe they could care less about the Earth and its inhabitants. But hey, if a few prayers and incense keeps it happy and prevents it from destroying the universe, why not? Sasuke liked being alive._

_He waited until Sakura was done with her prayers and led the way out and down to the steps._

_He was trying to be polite. She'd been mostly quiet, just asking why he was here, where Hinata was and how was his summer. She even lit candles with him for his ancestors in the cemetery earlier. Otherwise she didn't pry and he was thankful for that. He'd expected her to be annoying, since he knew she'd been waiting for quite some time to be able to do something like this with him. But instead, she respected his need for space the way only Hinata could have given him._

_He'd always liked the quiet._

_Since she hadn't been such bad company, he thought it was only fitting for him to walk her home, especially since he'd heard her mother was clearly worried about her walking the streets alone._

_She had told him earlier that they were visiting her grandparents. Apparently her family was originally from here before her father was given a job in Konoha and they moved there in time for her to start schooling._

_Sasuke didn't know much about the civilians in Konoha. The clan didn't mingle with them all that much. He knew of the more prominent figures and other clans like the Hyuugas, Naras, Yamanakas, Akimichi, Inuzukas, Aburames, Sarutobi and the lesser known Uzumaki who had all but that Naruto left now. But he knew there were two doctors in the hospital with the last name Haruno. Those were probably her parents. Mebuki and Kizashi, he thought. However his family had their own band of doctors so he hadn’t met them yet._

_It seemed elitist but they’d been born like that. Those families had been in Konoha even before it had been founded. There were no undoing generations of power and riches._

_Idly he wondered if he should offer Sakura some snacks on their way or if that would spoil her appetite for dinner._

_But would that make it seem like a... date? Certainly he didn’t want to give her any ideas and start rumors going around in school. Those would reach Hinata and their families. He didn’t want to risk that just because he felt being considerate for some girl._

_Sakura saved him from the internal debate when she asked him if he would like to eat. “I’m really hungry.”_

_When he consented, she smiled and led him to one of the remaining stalls in the plaza who had been open since the summer festival when the place was swarming with tourists weeks ago._

_"Two, please!" Sakura asked and Sasuke pulled out money before she could tell him off. So she thanked him and the vendor after. She thrusted the okonomiyaki in his hands and ate hers._

_He looked at it and started to pocket it but she gasped theatrically._

_"What do you think you're doing? Come on! Eat!"_

_"I'm fine."_

_Sakura looked at him in disbelief. "Have you even ever tried okonomiyakis before?"_

_"Hinata doesn't really like them..." He found himself explaining._

_Sakura snorted and glared playfully until he finally gave in and bit just to get her off his case._

_She smiled like he gave her the best gift in the world after._

_Sakura brought a watame and offered some to him but he declined. Hinata would know if he's started to eat sugar again (he could get typically addicted and it would be a shame since he and Hinata had worked hard to put a stop on that) and nobody wanted a hyped up overly cold and dark Sasuke... Even he was weirded with the effects sugar brought to him._

_Sakura didn't have that problem, though and enjoyed her cotton candy and even got herself a karumiyaki with a childish smile that reminded Sasuke of better times with Itachi in the festivals they went at together. He wondered if Sakura was ever worried about gaining weight or loosing teeth on sugar. The thought of Sakura complaining about toothaches made him smile by a degree._

_He didn't realize she had been watching him until he caught her eye and she blushed beet red and looked away, mumbling something about takoyaki._

_Sakura had one hell of an appetite and the knowledge made Sasuke amused him greatly. He'd never met any woman with this much gusto for food. Hinata wasn’t doing any diets, but she was quite picky with her food. Servants made her bento and she never ate anything from the school cafeteria._

_By the end of the night, she was patting a miraculously non-existent belly and thanking the gods for such good food._

_He walked behind her by a couple of steps as they crossed the small wooden bridge with the calm river with colorful koi underneath. It was already late but fireflies lazily floated about, spreading magic-seeming bits of light around them._

* * *

_“Thanks for letting me pig out, Sasuke-kun,” she smiled contentedly with a faint blush. He made no answer and they began their journey home._

_He was beginning to appreciate her company. She’d been wearisome back in junior high. He was glad she’d learned to grow into something else than some kind of avid fan girl._

_After a long silence, she asked, “Where’s Hinata-chan today?”_

_“Back in the city,” he replied as they crossed an empty road. “Family matters.”_

_“Oh.” She hummed and smiled brightly. “She’s very nice, isn’t she?”_

_“She is.”_

_There was another stretch of silence._

_He noticed when Sakura took a step closer to him, making the distance between them closer than normal. He frowned a bit by that. He hoped he didn’t need to talk to her again about him not liking her in his personal space. He’d given her that once and Ino way too many times to count._

_“Can I ask you a question?”_

_She took his silence as a yes. He should have said no._

_“Do you really want to get married to Hinata-chan?” She asked, genuine curiosity in her tone. “She’s nice and all, but don’t you ever dream of making decisions? I’d die if my parents forced me to do something like that. And since birth…”_

_She realized she was rambling and quickly shut up. But she still looked at him, waiting for an answer._

_It was then that Sasuke realized it._

_He’d never made any decisions for himself before. He was so used to accepting orders and the Elders’ plans for him that he hadn’t stopped to think of what he wanted. Had Hinata ever realized that, too?_

_Her words echoed his mind all through the night and made him wonder things he had never given himself the chance to think before._

_Did he want to go to business school? Did he want to keep following his father’s orders? Did he want to take Itachi’s duty? Did he want to lead the clan? Did he truly want to marry Hinata? Did she want to marry him?_

_In the morning, he told himself the questions were meaningless. He told himself there was nothing he could do to change anything. He had responsibilities and he was a responsible young man._

_He told himself that. But he didn’t stop wondering anyway._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took too long. got to involved with my ShikaIno stuff and other stuff.
> 
> Check them out! Hope you like them too.
> 
> Most of what I write have been in the Naruto-verse only. Perhaps because I'm in that phase again. (My playlist for the past three months have mostly all been songs from the anime.)
> 
> Also, for anyone interested, I will be posting a new multi-chapter story for Shikamaru and Ino, a remix of monkeyyslut's Love is a Loaded Weapon.
> 
> Soon.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
